Residents feel hopeless after devastating fire on Stevens Creek
AUGUSTA, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) - Sixteen apartments were damaged by a fire on Stevens Creek Road, and now people there are wondering if fireworks are to blame.
If so, it would be the second apartment fire in the CSRA caused by fireworks within a few days. On June 19, four units at a Waynesboro complex were damaged in a fire blamed on a sparkler.
In the latest fire, crews responded at 10:55 p.m. Wednesday to the 900 block of Stevens Creek Road at the 3300 building of the Nine Two Six West apartment complex.
A few hours after the apartments caught fire, residents shared their thoughts.
A caller reported hearing fireworks for over two hours before noticing a fire in the apartment building, authorities say.
The caller immediately began knocking on doors, informing residents of the fire and urging them to evacuate, according to authorities.
On arrival, firefighters notified dispatch that the incident required a full response. The fire was brought under control and quickly extinguished, officials say.
There were no serious injuries, but fire crews saw one person had minor injuries after escaping the flames from a balcony.
Within a matter of seconds, everything can be gone.
“I came home at 11 o’clock, and I lost everything. I don’t have nothing. I don’t know what to do,” said Ossie Shaw, who lives in the apartments.
People in Nine Two Six West apartments woke up with a feeling of shock and hopelessness.
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“I did not expect any of this to happen. I feel sad about it because when I just got here, they have just renovated and just remodeled,” said another resident.
The smokey air, fire alarms, chaos and feeling of losing everything caused residents to panic.
“Honestly, my brain stopped working. That’s how I felt. I didn’t know what to do besides go outside and hopefully, make sure other people were okay,” said the resident.
Before the fire alarm went off, residents said things were normal.
Now, less than 24 hours later, 16 families are left with little to nothing.
“I came home, and everything’s burnt to the ground. It’s nothing. They tell me to wait, I don’t know what to do,” said Shaw.
The Red Cross provided people a place to stay for the next three days, and said it was helping 15 people.
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